I'll Cover You
by TheObscureFluffs
Summary: Sonic didn't even see it coming. Eggman was about to fire that destructive beam at him and he was too focused on the robot minions. Then, suddenly, he heard a cry of pain from a red echidna who had jumped in and took the blast for him. (slightly AU Sonic Boom universe)


A soft beeping sound rang through the room as Knuckles began to stir.

"…Oh! …e's… aking… up…"

A voice? It was one that he couldn't recognize.

"He…? Knu…les…"

Sonic… that's right, didn't he…?

"…uckles?"

He vaguely remembered. An incident in their last fight with Eggman. He'd grabbed Sonic and took a major blast for him.

"Knux!"

Knuckles' eyes slowly opened. He groaned softly.

"S-Sonic? Wh…where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," Sonic replied, mixed emotions in his voice. "Your back's seriously messed up."

"Wha…" Knuckles tried to sit up, but then yelped in pain. He laid back down and groaned.

Sonic cringed at his yelp, while a nurse went to his side. "Don't move… you need to heal."

Sonic frowned, tightening his hands into fists. "W-what did you think you were doin', Knux!?" he asked, raising his voice. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I was just trying to keep _you_ from getting killed," Knuckles replied quietly.

Sonic grunted softly, his anger turning to sadness. He knew he couldn't be angry with Knuckles forever; he'd just wanted to protect him, after all.

"…Sorry," he said, even though it wasn't like him to apologize.

"Am…am I gonna be okay?" Knuckles asked the nurse worriedly.

"We're… still running tests," the nurse answered. "But we should have a diagnosis soon enough. Until then, rest easy."

She left the room after that. Sonic mentally sighed, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it up to Knuckles' hospital bed, promptly sitting down on it.

"…Don't ever do anything dumb like that again, understand?"

Knuckles turned his gaze away sadly. "I just wanted you to be safe…"

Sonic hated that; he was trying extremely hard to be angry so Knuckles would take his order to heart, but all it did was make him feel bad.

"…You dummy…"

He reached over and lightly grabbed Knuckles' hand. "I bet you'd do it all over again too, wouldn't you…"

Knuckles nodded. "I never leave a 'hog hangin'," he added, trying to crack a smile through his pain.

Sonic gripped Knuckles' hand a little tighter. "S-shut up…" he muttered, though all the anger in his voice was gone at his point and it just sounded more pathetic than anything else.

"…Do you need somethin'?" he suddenly asked. "They've got snacks and drinks not too far away if you want any."

"Aw, y-you don't have to do that." Knuckles was flattered by Sonic's offer, but he didn't want to make him do anything for him.

"It's really not that far!" Sonic repeated. "I can be there and back in half a second!"

"Well…" Knuckles hesitated, but ended up giving in. "I…I guess I'm a little hungry. A-and thirsty."

In an instant, Sonic had sped out of the room. A bit more than half a second later, he came back, offering Knuckles a granola bar and a glass of grape juice. "They didn't have any grape-flavored snacks," he said, almost apologetically.

"That's okay," Knuckles replied gratefully. He tried to reach over and grab the snacks, but suddenly winced in pain.

"O-ow… my arms hurt really bad…"

Sonic saddened, then set the glass of grape juice down on a nearby table. He partially unwrapped the granola bar, then sat on the bed and held it up to Knuckles. "Here…"

Knuckles blushed lightly, a little embarrassed, but knew that he didn't have much choice. He bit into the granola bar.

"Thanks," he said, after swallowing his mouthful.

"Hey, it's the least I can do, mister life saver," Sonic replied, pulling the wrapper down further as necessary.

Knuckles smiled despite his pain. As he ate, he wouldn't admit it, but he was actually kind of enjoying this treatment. He wasn't used to seeing this more caring side of Sonic, and it was rather refreshing.

Once Knuckles was done with the granola bar and grape juice, the nurse walked by into the room.

"Visiting hours are over," she said simply.

Sonic smiled weakly. "I'm not visiting. I'm staying."

"Yes, yes, you always say that." The nurse rolled her eyes, but giggled. "Very well."

She left, leaving Sonic to blush pink. _Did she HAVE to mention that I always stuck around?_

"How long have I been in here?" Knuckles asked.

"You were unconscious for a couple days," Sonic replied, sitting back down in his chair.

"Days? Geez…" Knuckles sighed. "Sorry if I worried you."

"Bah, I wasn't worried," Sonic said, even though the lie was easy to see.

Knuckles smirked, clearly not buying it. "Oh yeah?"

Sonic's ear twitched, catching that Knuckles wasn't convinced. "Yeah. S'just Team Sonic protocol and stuff. The others were busy."

He paused, and his actions betrayed his words as he went to grip Knuckles' hand again. "…I'm glad you're alright."

Knuckles smiled softly. "I'm glad you're okay too."

Sonic raised a brow. "What? Worried that you weren't covering me enough and I was gonna singe the tip of a quill or something?" he asked amusedly.

"I just dunno what I'd do if I hadn't gotten to you in time," Knuckles admitted.

"I'm made of tough stuff. I would've been fine," Sonic said. Another lie, as he knew Knuckles took pain much better than he did; that blast probably would've disintegrated him.

Knuckles went silent for a while, not sure what else there was to say.

"Tired?" Sonic then asked.

"Mm…" Knuckles suddenly realized that his eyes were drooping.

"Get some sleep. You need it," Sonic told him, releasing the echidna's hand.

Knuckles wasn't sure why, but he was disappointed when Sonic let go of his hand.

"O-okay…" he mumbled tiredly.

Sonic waited for Knuckles to fall asleep, then rested his arms and head down at the side of the bed, falling asleep himself.

Sometime later, Knuckles woke up, groaning as the pain quickly reminded him of where he was.

"S-Sonic? You awake yet?" he whispered.

Sonic remained sound asleep for a moment, then twitched his ear, slowly beginning to stir. "Mm?"

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?" Knuckles asked softly.

"S'alright," Sonic slurred, letting out a yawn as he sat up. "What's up…?"

"Nothin' really," Knuckles replied. "I just woke up."

"Oh…" Sonic frowned. "Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Knuckles answered. He didn't want to trouble Sonic if it wasn't necessary.

"You sure?" Sonic questioned, as if insistent on doing something for him. "Hey, I'm here for you, aren't I? Might as well put me to work."

Knuckles blushed lightly, once again flattered by Sonic's offer.

"W-well… do they have any more grape juice?" he asked sheepishly.

Sonic smirked; he'd always been amused at Knuckles' love of anything grape-related.

"I'll just bring the jug with me this time."

He sped off to retrieve it.

Knuckles smiled. This was probably the nicest Sonic had ever been to him.

A few seconds later, Sonic returned with a jug of grape juice with a glass placed upside down over the cap. He set the jug down on the table, then pulled out a can and showed it to Knuckles.

"I managed to snag a grape soda for ya." He popped the soda can open, then held it up to Knuckles' mouth, "Figured you deserved to treat yourself a little." He smiled softly.

"Thanks," Knuckles replied, smiling a little wider.

Sonic let Knuckles drink the can until it was empty, then set it aside. "So… feelin' any better?"

"Still really sore," Knuckles sighed. "I don't think I'll be movin' anytime soon."

"I'm afraid you'll have to," a voice rang out from the doorway. It was the nurse, who seemed to be carrying a large jar of something white.

Sonic's eyes widened, as if he recognized the substance. "N-no way! Not _that_ again!" he said, looking upset.

The nurse sighed. "It's part of the treatment." She walked over to Knuckles. "I need you to roll over onto your side for me."

Sonic cringed, practically shaking as he remembered the experience. Knuckles had been unconscious, but that didn't stop the constant cries of pain. Knuckles didn't move as it was, but now he had to, he was awake, and Sonic knew that the substance they needed to put on his back stung. A lot…

"O-okay," Knuckles replied nervously.

He struggled to roll over, grunting in pain as he did. "N-now what?"

"Hold still."

There was hardly any hesitation, the nurse's gloved hand picking up some of the substance and slathering it onto Knuckles' burn.

Knuckles gasped in pain suddenly, flinching as the substance came in contact with his back.

Sonic saddened, offering his hand to Knuckles. "Would this help?" he asked. He wouldn't tell Knuckles, but even unconscious, the echidna always seemed calmer during the treatment when holding Sonic's hand.

"T-thanks." Knuckles gladly accepted Sonic's hand as the pain started to get even worse. He whimpered, his eyes stinging with tears.

Sonic's ears drooped, his free hand moving to cup Knuckles' cheek and wipe any oncoming tears away. His voice became unusually soft. "Don't worry, big guy. I'm not leavin' ya…"

Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand. He was in too much pain to speak now, but he was grateful that Sonic was there for him.

Sonic grimaced somewhat. Knuckles' grip was very tight, but he wasn't going to let go just for that.

Knuckles wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity for the poor echidna.

Finally, after who knew how long, the nurse took her hand away. "It's done. You can roll back over now," she said.

Knuckles winced as he rolled onto his back. He was still holding Sonic's hand.

Sonic watched as the nurse left, then released Knuckles' hand, gazing at the echidna sadly.

All of a sudden, he threw his arms around him in a hug. "…Sorry," he murmured, clear remorse in his voice.

Knuckles was taken completely by surprise. Sonic wasn't usually the hugging type. He gladly accepted the hug though, and buried his muzzle into Sonic's fur.

"W-will they have to do that again?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sonic replied. "I… hope not…"

"Me too. I-it was horrible…" Knuckles whimpered.

Sonic sat back down on his chair and sighed, staring at the floor. His face was riddled with guilt.

"Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" Knuckles asked worriedly.

"…I should've been lookin' out for that blast," he mumbled. "If I'd just moved outta the way…"

"Hey, it's okay," Knuckles assurred him. "I-I'll be fine…" he added, giving Sonic a pained smile.

Sonic held his hand again and sighed. "But you're not fine _now,_ " he argued.

Knuckles didn't know what to say. He hated to see Sonic feeling so bad.

"I'll be okay," he said again, gently squeezing Sonic's hand.

 _I just hope that's true…_

Sonic sighed, not believing in his sureness, but dropped the subject anyway.

"Want some more grape juice?" he asked, grabbing the empty glass on the table.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Knuckles replied gratefully. He chuckled despite his pain. "What would I do without you, Sonic?"

Sonic blushed slightly, but wasn't in the mood to make his usual snarky comeback. "I dunno; not have a seriously bad burn on your back and be able to walk?"

He poured some grape juice into the glass, then held it up to Knuckles' mouth.

Knuckles happily drank the juice. It and Sonic's kindness were already making him feel a little better.

Once Knuckles was done, Sonic set the glass back down and tried to smile for him.

Suddenly though, there were voices outside the door.

"Did you tell him that he needs an operation yet?"

"I haven't. Why should we have to perform on this guy anyway?"

"Because he's our patient, that's why!"

"But he's hardly a citizen of this island! He doesn't even have a home!"

"Ah–"

"Besides, he probably wouldn't understand if I told him anyway! He's an idiot! I'm surprised Sonic's actually stuck around this whole time for him; I wouldn't!"

"Are…are they talking about me?" Knuckles whispered, looking as though he'd been slapped in the face.

Sonic growled under his breath. "Sit tight, Knuckles. I'll be right back."

He got up, then ran out the door. There was a short silence, before Sonic's shouting could be heard.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Knuckles that way ever again! I don't care _how_ dumb you think he is; he's still the nicest guy I know and I'm _not_ gonna listen to you insult him like that!"

Knuckles blushed at Sonic's words, flattered that his friend would defend him like that. He wondered if Sonic really thought that about him.

After a minute or so, Sonic returned, looking annoyed until he glanced back at his friend.

"Sorry about that; had to go tell off some trash."

He huffed and walked back over to his chair, sitting down.

Knuckles managed a small smile. "T-thanks for standing up for me like that."

Sonic blushed. "Y-you heard that?"

"How could I not?" Knuckles chuckled. "You were really yelling at that guy!"

Sonic's blush darkened. "W-well, yeah. I-I guess I wasn't thinkin'," he admitted. "I was just," He clenched his fists, "so mad…"

"So… y-you really think I'm a nice guy?" Knuckles asked, blushing as well.

Sonic raised a brow. "Of course I do," he replied, as if the answer was obvious.

"T-thanks," Knuckles replied, blushing a little more.

Then he frowned. "So… who were those people anyway?"

"Just some of the people who work here," Sonic told him.

He was quiet for a moment, then remembered their words. "You… need an operation."

"A-a what?" Knuckles wasn't sure what an 'operation' was exactly, but it sounded scary to him.

"It means surgery," Sonic replied, though quickly realizing that Knuckles probably wouldn't understand that either. "I-it means that they'll have to go into your back and fix whatever's wrong."

"O-oh." Knuckles was silent for a moment. "Will…will it hurt?"

"I don't think you'll feel it," Sonic told him. "They usually put you to sleep and give you stuff so you won't feel any pain."

He sighed sadly. "But…"

"B-but what?" Knuckles asked nervously.

"Stuff like this always has some sorta risk to it; it… might not come out a success." Sonic hated being so blunt about it, but he wanted to be honest.

"S-so… I might not get better?" Knuckles was starting to feel anxious now.

"I-I mean, it's possible," Sonic admitted with a small sigh.

Knuckles turned his gaze away from Sonic, sighing sadly. "I guess then my back would be as messed up as my brain," he muttered.

Sonic's mouth dropped open, and he quickly glared at the echidna. "Knuckles, don't start," he hissed, not wanting to hear Knuckles talk like that.

Knuckles was startled by Sonic's tone. He whimpered nervously, closing his eyes to avoid the hedgehog's glare.

Sonic frowned. "You're not stupid…" he said.

"I-I'm not?" Knuckles slowly opened his eyes to look at Sonic again.

"No!" Sonic shouted, looking almost offended. "You're not! I mean, yeah, sure, you're not always on top of stuff, but that doesn't make you an idiot!"

He clenched his fists again. "I know I joke about it sometimes, but it still burns me up that people go around ragging on the guy I love like that!" He didn't seem to be listening to himself at this point, only focused on getting his rant out.

Knuckles' face flushed instantly. "W-wh-wha—huh?"

Sonic looked at Knuckles, confused. "What, what's wrong?"

A moment later, his eyes quickly went wide, his heart nearly stopping as he realized what he said.

There was a long uneasy silence between the two, until Sonic suddenly dashed out of the room.

"S-Sonic, wait!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Please, come back…"

 _He…_ _loves me?_

Minutes passed, but Sonic didn't return. Instead, the doctor came in, gazing over at Knuckles.

"It's time for your operation," he said simply.

Knuckles whimpered, beginning to tremble nervously.

 _Oh Sonic, where are you?_

He needed his crush with him more than ever.

Knuckles was brought to an operation room, then heavily sedated to ensure that he wouldn't be waking up or squirming from the pain.

The operation went by, and then hours passed, with the sedation slowly wearing off on the echidna.

He slowly woke up, groaning as he felt the soreness in his back.

 _Is it over yet?_ he wondered. He barely even remembered falling asleep.

A nurse was looking down at him, smiling softly.

"Oh, good. You're awake," she said. "I'm happy to tell you that your operation went along smoothly!"

She held her hands up slightly. "Just… try not to do any serious weight-lifting for a few days. You're okay to walk, but you're still healing."

Knuckles nodded. To tell the truth, he really didn't feel like getting up at all anyway; his back was still killing him.

"H-hey, um… do you know where Sonic went?"

"Sonic?" the nurse asked to confirm.

"Um… well, he came back while you were still out, but he just left those here before running out again."

She pointed to a few gifts lying on the table. Flowers, sweets, and at least five apology cards.

"I asked him if he wanted to stay, but he refused," she explained.

Knuckles blushed when he saw the gifts. "O-oh, okay."

He sighed. He'd liked having Sonic around while he was recovering. And now that he knew that Sonic liked him, he wanted the hedgehog around even more.

The nurse bowed. "I'll leave you alone. Call if you need anything."

She then left the room.

Knuckles sighed again. He hated being alone right now, but he was feeling too sore to go and find Sonic.

He carefully reached over to the table, grunting a little, and grabbed the flowers. He sniffed them, and couldn't help but crack a smile. They were even his favorite kind of flowers. Sonic knew him so well!

 _If Sonic doesn't come back, I'll go see him myself when I feel better enough,_ he decided. He just hoped he'd be able to think of something to say when he saw him again.

A couple days went by, but Sonic still didn't come to see Knuckles. He remained at home mostly, too embarrassed to go after him now that he'd admitted his feelings for him. Even if he had intended on telling Knuckles eventually, that was _not_ how he'd wanted it to come out about it.

The hedgehog sighed, laying back on his hammock. He felt like a jerk for not going back to at least _check_ on Knuckles, but he couldn't muster up the courage to.

"H-hey," a familiar voice suddenly said. "Can…can I come in?"

Sonic let out a yelp of surprise, so shocked by the sudden voice that he fell off his hammock. "…ow."

He rubbed his head, then looked over to the doorway. "K-Knuckles?" he asked, gritting his teeth nervously.

"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah," Sonic replied, blushing slightly as he sat up. He hadn't expected to see Knuckles so soon.

"…H-hey, look…" His gaze shifted to the wall. "That stuff I said before… can we just forget it happened?" The last thing he wanted to do was lose Knuckles as a friend.

"But… I-I don't wanna forget," Knuckles replied, blushing as well. "Did…did you really mean it?"

Sonic stared at him, confused. He didn't want to forget about it?

"W-well…" He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "…yeah. Yeah, I meant it."

Knuckles smiled. He sat down next to Sonic, and then he… hugged him?

Sonic blushed at the contact, but was extremely puzzled by it as well. "K…Knuckles…?"

"Y-y'know, um…" Knuckles pulled away slightly. "I…I've kinda always had a crush on you," he admitted, blushing heavily.

"You have?" Sonic asked to confirm. "I mean, I knew you were a little more emotional than me, but…" He was almost speechless.

Knuckles nodded. "I…I always kept it a secret though, 'cause I didn't think I had a chance with you…"

Sonic frowned at that, almost glaring like he did before when Knuckles got self-conscious. "Is that a fact…?"

He grabbed hold of Knuckles' shoulders, then pulled him in and kissed him deeply, making sure that he knew just how much of a 'chance' he had with him.

Knuckles' face flushed even more. His heart skipped a beat, and his stomach felt like it had butterflies in it. After he had a moment to register what was happening, he kissed back, his eyes slowly closing as he took in the sensation.

Sonic chuckled despite his own face flushing, then slowly embraced Knuckles, though being careful about his bandaged-up back; he still wanted to be careful so he wouldn't ruin the moment, after all.

Knuckles returned the embrace. He giggled happily, excited that he was finally experiencing his first kiss.

After a long moment, Sonic pulled away, his half-lidded eyes gazing into Knuckles' as he smiled.

"Don't have a chance with me, huh? I think you were a little off," he teased.

Knuckles blushed again. "I…I…"

He didn't even know what to say. All he could do was smile.

Sonic leaned against him. "Sorry I didn't visit you. I just turned into a bundle of nerves after I slipped up like that."

"It's okay," Knuckles assured him. "I, um… thanks for the flowers and stuff, by the way."

Sonic blushed. "Well, I had to give you somethin' since I couldn't bring myself to come," he explained.

"You knew what my favorite kind of flowers were!" Knuckles grinned. "How did you know?"

"You're my friend; shouldn't I know a lot about you?" Sonic asked with a small grin.

He averted his gaze slightly, becoming a bit sheepish. "Though, heh… I-I guess that'd be 'boyfriend' now, wouldn't it?"

Knuckles giggled. "I like the sound of that."

Sonic nuzzled him softly. "How do you say 'I love you' in your ancient echidna language then?" he asked.

Knuckles blushed. He cleared his throat, then pronounced the phrase carefully and clearly.

Sonic's ears twitched back and forth, listening closely to the accent and pronunciation of the words. He smiled nervously, then took a deep breath and imitated it, saying it right back to Knuckles.

Knuckles giggled, nodding excitedly. "Perfect!"

Sonic grinned proudly, glad that he got it right on his first try, then became a little mischievous, starting to repeat it over and over, hoping to get Knuckles a little flustered.

It worked. Knuckles blushed heavily, still giggling.

Sonic laughed playfully, then gave him another kiss.

"Thanks for saving me…" he whispered softly, touching their foreheads. He couldn't be more grateful at that moment; his confession might not've happened otherwise.

"No prob," Knuckles replied. He touched their noses together, smiling playfully. "Like I said, I never leave a 'hog hangin'. Especially my boyfriend."

The word 'boyfriend' felt a little weird to say, since he wasn't used to it, but he quite liked it.

Sonic blushed slightly, then chuckled. "Never leave a 'hog hangin', huh?"

He sat down on Knuckles' lap, then leaned back against him. "So if I asked ya if we could stay like this for the rest of the day, you wouldn't be able to say 'no'?" he asked with a smirk.

Knuckles blushed too, giggling again. "You didn't even need to ask."

Sonic smiled, placing his hands gently against Knuckles'.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night.


End file.
